Our Events

REGISTER HERE What is achievement? What is success?  Does the human desire for achievement or success have a natural end, or is it restless and never-satisfied?  In other words, what do we understand human fulfillment to be, and how does our university education contribute to that fulfillment? In this lunch time discussion, Elizabeth Corey, professor of political philosophy and director of the Honors Program at Baylor University, will suggest two ways of being human in the world: the culture of achievement and the culture of love.  Guided by insights drawn from sources as wide as the Odyssey, the Nichomachean Ethics, Dorothy Sayers, and...

What could be wrong with curiosity? "Long live curiosity," proclaims the Museum of Science and Industry, and modernity unanimously praises it as the beginning of intellectual discovery. But, surprisingly, Augustine of Hippo criticizes “curiositas” in his Confessions. Is Augustine’s notion out-moded? Is the pursuit of knowledge adverse to Christian faith? Or could Augustine’s concern about the proper use and the abuse of intellectual pursuits inform ideas of liberal education? Over dinner on Saturday evening, E. John Ellison (University of Chicago) will lead a discussion on the modern notion of curiosity and Augustine’s critique on curiositas especially in Confessions, Book 10.35. Open to undergraduate students. No prior reading required. Dinner will...